Why voting to leave is fundamentally unbritish

I am not going to write an article saying “we are screwed” or “this will result in a poorer UK”. The UK may do well. However even if the UK does great outside the EU this is still a very unbritish thing to do, and not just because we normally exit Europe on penalties.

We normally are obstinate in the face of our enemies, not our friends

It is a very British thing to stand up to those who wish us ill. Not shirking a fight and being counted is something we often point to in our history as a source of pride.

Make no mistake, the places that will be celebrating a vote to leave most will not be the Farage house and what seems like all of Sunderland. It will be in the Kremlin. It will be in ISIS’s tents in the Syrian desert where women are stoned for adultery.

The places where it will be most mourned will be in the meetings of our closest allies.

The British want to be at the table

We don’t like to be left out. We want to decide our own fate. Leaving hasn’t just giving up our chair at the table. We have hit ourself in the face with the chair, breaking it, only to realise the reason we had to sit on the chair is that the floor is covered in shit.

We don’t abandon our friends

We are abandoning our friends. Allies we have stood side by side for 40 years, are now left to face problems alone. The asylum crisis, ageing populations and climate change are problems to be solved together not apart. Not just because its the right thing to do, but because it is the only way they can be solved!

Bonds with other countries don’t just happen. Think of the countries we are closest with. We usually share a bond with them through shared history and culture.

Unfortunately there are only two ways these bonds are formed:

Through invading them 300 years ago and imposing our culture, language and cricket.

Co-operation in many different ways creating norms and conventions that bond us together. This takes many many years and is usually the result of traumatic events, conflicts or common enemies.

Option one is not really feasible now all the other countries also have guns. So all we have is two and now we have thrown away 40 years of bridge building.

It reeks of no self confidence

The British are self assured and self confident. Proud of our history. Withdrawal from Europe says we don’t trust in the strength of a principles and values. We are have so little faith in our ability to shape Europe that we would rather pull up the bridge.

Diversity is enshrined in our identity

We are the UNITED Kingdom. The very fabric of our state is based upon unity in diversity. Scotland and England, once at war constantly don’t even contemplate raising arms against each other. Has this diminished a sense national identity? Just watch the 6 nations.

A leave vote signifies an end to an embrace of diversity and a move to stagnation.